Tweet

12 Do's and Don't for Effective Online Communication

Guest post by: Robert Whipple

Article Overview: We communicate more online now than verbally. In many situations, people send signals that are not consistent with their intentions. Unfortunately, while the rules of excellent e-mail communication are common sense, they are not common practice. These simple 12 rules will allow you to prevent most problems when communicating online.

12 Do's and Don't for Effective Online Communication

Overarching consideration: Use the right mode of communication - often e-mail is

not the right way to communicate a particular message.

1. Do not treat an e-mail like a conversation. In normal conversation we use

the feedback of body language to modify our message, pace, tone, and emphasis

in order to stay out of trouble. In e-mail we do not have this real-time feedback.

2. Keep messages short. A good e-mail should take only 15-30 seconds to read

and absorb. Less is more in online communication. Try to have the entire message

fit onto the first screen. When a messages goes "over the horizon," the reader does

not know how long it is, which creates a psychological block.

3. Establish the right tone upfront. E-mail messages have a momentum. If you

start on the wrong foot, you will have a difficult time connecting. The "Subject"

line and the first three words of a note establish the tone.

4. Remember the permanent nature of e-mails. Using e-mail to praise helps

people remember the kind words. Using e-mail to be critical is usually a bad idea

because people will re-read the note many times.

5. Keep your objective in mind. Establish a clear objective of how you want the

reader to react to your note. For sensitive notes, write the objective down. When

proofreading your note, check to see if your intended reaction is likely to happen.

If not, reword the note.

6. Do not write notes when you are not yourself. This sounds simple, but it

is really much more difficult than meets the eye. Learn the techniques to avoid

this problem.

7. Avoid "e-mail grenade" battles. Do not take the bait. Simply do not respond

to edgy e-mails in kind. Change the venue to be more effective.

8. Be careful with use of pronouns in e-mail. Pronouns establish the tone.

The most dangerous pronoun in an e-mail is "you."

9. Avoid using "absolutes." Avoid words such as: never, always, impossible, or

cannot. Soften the absolutes if you want to be more credible in e-mails.

10. Avoid sarcasm. Humor at the expense of another person in an e-mail will come

back to haunt you.

11. Learn techniques to keep your inbox clean (down to zero notes each day)

so you are highly responsive when needed. Adopting proper distribution rules in

your organization will cut e-mail traffic by more than 30% instantly.

12. Understand the rules for writing challenging notes so you always get the

result you want rather than create a need for damage control.

Your organization has a sustainable competitive advantage if:

• You live and work in an environment unhampered by the problems of poor online

communication. This takes some education and a customized set of rules for your

unique environment, but the effort is well worth it.

• Employees are not consumed with trying to sort out important information from

piles of garbage email.

• Your coworkers are not focused on one-upmanship and internal turf wars.

• Leaders know how to use electronic communications to build rather than destroy

trust.

For leaders and managers, once you learn the essentials of e-body language, a

whole new world of communication emerges. You will be more adept at decoding

incoming messages and have a better sense of how your messages are interpreted by

others. You will understand the secret code that is written "between the lines" of all

messages and enhance the quality of online communications in your sphere of influence.

Related Articles
  Profitable Online Business Ideas and the Recession Part 2
  What is the best way to develop my sales skills?
  Know your magic numbers
  Social Networking or Social Distraction
  Contribution
  Can you afford to make your email marketing more targeted? Can you afford not to?
  How can you make more of your customers open your emails?
  More crazy customers!
  Online Business and Freedom in America
  Spam: You probably hate it but can you define it?
  How to generate referrals
  No Passion , No Business
  Are you Hard, Scrambled or Soft?
  Guidelines to Consider in Marketing Books Using Email Advertisement Campaigns
  9 Vital Principles of Communication
  Hacking Facebook Password with the help of free hacker tools for everyone
  Get better results from email newsletters and promotional emails
  How do I find a passionate and purposeful mentor?
  Are you a Star?
  10 Smoking Resources to Boost Your Data Entry Work at Home Jobs

Article Tags: body language, culture, email, Leadership, online, tone, trust



Related Forum Posts
Re: Essential Leadership skills - Vision Values Mission Strategic Thinking Decision Making Communication Team Bonding People Development Coaching / Mentoring / Guiding / Grooming Presentation Thanks Robert
Re: How to Promote Your Blog – The Definitive Guide to Promoting - Great Post! Dont forget to put your blog in Anchor Text For SEO purposes for the keywords you want when getting backlinks (for example with article marketing)...Very important. You can conquer quite a few small Niches and get your site on the number 1 spot in Google!
Re: Due Diligence, Market Research.. Ahead of the curve. - Congrats! A few months ago I wrote extensively on market research. Check in the Inventors corner for the posts. Let me know if I can help further! Dont spend a dime on a protype or advertising until you do some research! Jude
Internet Users Hbk http://www.internetscamsanonymous.com - Current site for sale of our handbook as a Clickbank product Welcome any and all feedback: Sale page Content Handbook Content Pricing Too Big Considering braking it to 2 volumes: Avoiding Scams Online and Doing Business Online and maybe ad 3rd volume related internet technology Kind of like selling preventive medicine!! Thank you in advance for your interest and comments
Re: What is your Business? - We are running a Online Marketing Firm and we have some good clients to which we are offering a complete Digital Marketing strategy like Search, Mobile Marketing, Branding and Design. I think in Online Marketing company online presence can be a wining factor for the success of the company.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

The OLD Way of Advertising, May Not be so OLD

The Future of Online Marketing

Anger Solutions at Work: Why Customers Get Angry

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.